‘Well whether you meant to or not, you did.’
Ellie’s face took on a mutinous expression. ’I didn’t realise there was so much alcohol in the punch. It tasted really fruity and nicer than ours. I’m sorry if you felt ashamed of me.’
Grace sighed. ‘I wasn’t ashamed of you – but I wasn’t exactly proud of you either. You need to thank Nick next time you see him. There aren’t many men who’d hold your hair like that while you were throwing up in the toilet!’
‘Oh …’ Ellie flung her head dramatically into her arms on the table. ‘I don’t think I can ever face him again.’
‘I’m sure you’ll manage. Here, drink this and then go back to bed for a while – you look terrible.’
It was about an hour later when another ring on the doorbell had Grace warily moving to answer it, but this time she was dressed and there was no Evelyn Brandon standing before her. It was Marianne’s brother, Keith.
‘Hi … I was passing and thought I’d drop in to see how you’re doing. You left in such a hurry last night we didn’t get to say goodbye.’
Grace grinned and opened the door wider to let him in. ‘We had to get Ellie home … too much punch.’
‘I gathered it was something like that. If it’s any consolation, she wasn’t the only one from what I hear. One or two of the youngsters got a bit carried away apparently. Decided that the grown-up’s punch tasted better than theirs!’
‘Well, that makes me feel a bit better. Can I offer you a drink?’
‘Thanks, but no. I’m meeting up with my wife to discuss a few things and I don’t want to be late. I was wondering though if you might like to come out for a meal one night? It sounds pathetic I know, but I’ve been feeling a bit low with the separation and everything – it would be nice to have a bit of female company for a change.’
‘It’s nice of you to ask …’
‘Just as friends,’ he intercepted swiftly. ‘I’m in no fit state to be thinking about anything more at the moment, I can assure you.’
Grace hesitated. ’Well, also there’s Ellie … I’d need to find a babysitter.’
‘I’m sure you can work that one out if you want to,’ Keith responded with his easy smile.
A further ring on the doorbell had Grace shaking her head. ‘It’s like Piccadilly Circus this morning,’ she said, moving over to answer it.
It was Nick and he registered Keith’s presence with a slight lift of his eyebrow.
‘Don’t mind me,’ Keith said. ‘I’m just off. See what you can sort with your daughter Grace and let me know what night you can make. Cheerio …’
‘Fast mover,’ Nick observed as he watched him depart down the drive. ‘He’s only been on his own a few months.’
Grace frowned at him. ‘It’s not like that, we’re just going out for a catch up.’
‘For old times’ sake, you mean? When you used to fancy him?’
‘Oh, for goodness sake, that was when I was sixteen! And you must know that he’s still heartbroken over the split with his wife – he’s not looking for more complications. And neither am I.’
‘Men are at their most vulnerable when they’re in the middle of that sort of crisis. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
Grace shook her head and looked at him pityingly. ‘Don’t you believe a man can ask a woman out, purely as a friend?’
‘Nope. Not when she looks like you do, anyway. I don’t think I could ask you out and keep it purely platonic – especially not with that new hair do. It looks great by the way. The colour really suits you.’
She stared at him, robbed of the power of speech, and he grinned.
‘I can’t be the first man to tell you that you’re attractive?’
‘No,’ she replied, resorting to sarcasm to cover her embarrassment, ‘I get told all the time.’
He chuckled, a sound that plucked on a chord deep inside her. ‘So in that case, perhaps it’s the idea of me being something other than just a friend that you find difficult to imagine?’
He seemed to be mulling over the significance of that.
‘Well, we didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts did we? Anyway,’ she shot him a look, dragging the conversation firmly back to where it had begun, ‘I really don’t see the point of this conversation. I’ll go out with who I want, when I want – and at the end of the day it’s none of your business. I know there’s nothing in it, and that’s all that matters.’
‘You’re absolutely right, I stand rebuked. Do you need a babysitter?’
She looked at him suspiciously. ‘You know someone?’
‘She’d be very welcome to stay over with us if she’s happy to. You could check on her when you get back and either leave her until the morning or bring her back with you if she’s still awake.’
She was still eyeing him warily and he held up his hand, smiling.
‘There’s no ulterior motive. I’m simply happy to be able to return the favour you’re doing for me, keeping an eye on Will. The only evening I can’t do is Wednesday – I have a date of my own that night.’
‘Okay, well thanks. I’ll let you know.’
He looked at his watch. ‘I dropped by to see how Ellie was and also to say that Will and I are out for the day today – we usually go over to my father’s for Sunday lunch. So if you and Ellie want to use the pool then please feel free. It’s going to be another hot one …’
‘Cool, can we take a picnic with us and go over for the afternoon?’ her daughter asked later, having slept the sleep of the innocent and shrugged her hangover off.
‘No, lunch is nearly ready, but we’ll go after that if you like.’
She wasn’t allowing herself to dwell on the conversation Nick might be having with his stepmother – possibly at this very moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
‘How long’s it been going on?’
Keith was staring at his wife in shock. ‘I can’t believe that I had to find out from my own children that my wife’s seeing another man!’
Amanda took a deep breath and met his look calmly. ‘We’ve been separated nearly seven months, Keith, and I’m entitled to do what I like now. Robin and I have been seeing each other for a couple of months. There was no point telling you until I saw how it was going.’
She didn’t add that she’d also wanted to avoid the very scene they were now having.
‘Christ, Amanda – I know I’ve cocked up big time but I’m trying to put things right so we can get back together again. You know I am.’
She tried to keep her voice level. ‘And I keep telling you it’s too late.’
‘Are you sleeping with him?’
‘You have no right to ask me that question.’
‘Of course I do – you’re my wife. You mean the world to me. So do the kids.’
‘Well maybe you should have thought about that before gambling fifty thousand pounds of our money away. Don’t try and put the blame for this on to me. I told you the last time what would happen if you started gambling again. You need help, Keith. More than I can give you. I’m sorry.’
‘And I’m getting it. I’m only seeing the bloody shrink because you asked me to. Not that anything I do seems good enough for you.’
Amanda watched dismayed as he turned away from her and slammed angrily out of the flat, banging the door; not even stopping to say goodbye to the children. Then she slumped down onto the settee and buried her head in her hands.
But she didn’t cry … not like she used to when she’d first found out. She was a stronger person than she’d been back then. It had been difficult these last few months but with the arrival of Robin in her life, she felt as if she’d reached something of a turning point. He’d walked into her office that first morning looking for a house in the area where he could set up working from home as an advisory IT consultant. She’d looked at his floppy, blond hair and horn-rimmed spectacles and felt an almost motherly urge to look after him, but she’d very quickly discovered that he was far more capable than he looke
d. It was a refreshing change after Keith.
At first she’d resisted his invitations to dinner, feeling a ridiculous sense of loyalty to Keith but over a period of a couple of weeks, he’d worn her down and persuaded her to risk having a meal with him.
On the third date he’d asked about her personal life. And deciding that she didn’t want to waste her time seeing anyone who was going to be put off by her history, Amanda had filled him in, no holds barred, on Keith and all his problems.
‘We lost the house – everything,’ she sighed.
And he’d taken her hand very gently in his and said, ‘I know it’s probably hard to accept, but it sounds to me like you’re well rid of him. And I’m beginning to think that his loss is my gain.’
That night he’d kissed her on her doorstep, and three weeks later they’d made love, despite her feelings of guilt.
She blinked back the tears. A part of her would always love Keith; they’d shared so much together. But gambling would always be his first love.
She realised that even if he didn’t.
***
They spent a relaxing afternoon sunbathing and swimming in Nick’s pool – Ellie keen to practise her newfound skills in the water – and Grace having the occasional swim between bouts of sunbathing. The sun-loungers were comfortable and as she drifted off to sleep in the shade of the trees, a small smile of satisfaction curving her lips, her last lazy thought was that finally she’d found peace.
Nick’s voice woke her, shifting from the shadowy realms of her dreams to reality as she opened her eyes and blinked in the bright sunlight.
‘Ah, she’s awake.’
She squinted up at him and immediately felt exposed in her swimsuit. She sat up and reached for her shirt. ‘What time is it? Have I been asleep long?’
‘About five. We got back half-an-hour ago but you looked so peaceful we didn’t like to disturb you.’
‘Here’s your tea, Grace,’ Will said, materialising at her side. ‘Are you staying for the barbecue?’
‘I hadn’t got round to mentioning that yet,’ Nick said, ‘but …’ he turned back to Grace, his gaze enigmatic. ‘You’re welcome to stay – or come back later if you’ve got things you want to get on with?’
‘Oh please, Mum – we’re not doing anything else tonight,’ Ellie begged, ‘and Will’s got a new computer game he’s going to teach me.’
Grace hesitated, her eyes meeting Nick’s. Did he know how he unnerved her? She had the uncanny suspicion he did. Her instinct was to run a mile and not look back; that’s what she’d have done only a couple of months ago. But she surprised herself – and him she suspected – by letting the more adventurous side of her win out.
‘Okay, if you’re sure you’ve got enough? But we will go home first if you don’t mind – there are some things I need to get done.’
Nick’s returning look was casual. ‘That’s fine. We can have some tea now and then meet up again around seven thirty?’
Now, as she got ready to return, Grace studied herself critically in the mirror. It was still warm and she was wearing a pale blue sundress and strappy sandals, her newly styled long bob skimming her shoulders. Feminine but in an understated way, she decided.
She frowned, trying to analyse her feelings. She was attracted to Nick, there was no denying it and while it excited her, it also scared her. She didn’t like that he got under her skin the same way Rory had done; she didn’t trust those emotions. She was more comfortable with the steadier, gentler feelings that had grown between her and Stuart.
More than likely it was just frustration, she told herself, picking up her handbag and calling to Ellie.
And to be forewarned was to be forearmed.
He watched from the window as they walked down their path and headed back in the direction of Nick’s house. She looked hot in the simple blue dress, her shapely legs and slim body reminding him of what she’d looked like when she was younger. She was still a temptation to any man.
But he tuned his mind out from that direction. He had a job to do.
He forced himself to wait a full five minutes before opening the front door and picking up the black dustbin liner sitting on the doorstep. A quick glance along the road was enough to assure him that no-one was around – and indeed why would they be in a quiet neighbourhood like this, on a Sunday evening? But he wouldn’t get complacent. He didn’t want anyone recognising him. He kept his eyes peeled and his head lowered, as he crossed over and walked swiftly up her drive. It was an added bonus that the shrubs that bordered her garden screened her front door from the road, but still his heart was pumping at the knowledge that this was the moment of commitment, the point of no return. Very carefully, he removed the contents from the bag and stretched them out on her doorstep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
‘Who’s for another chicken leg?’
‘Me.’
‘Me.’
Grace smiled as the youngsters leapt from their seats and headed over to the barbecue, leaving her lagging.
‘What about you, Grace?’
‘Well, if there are any left after those two have been at them …’
It had been a good evening. Nick and Will were amusing company and a great double act, making her and Ellie laugh out loud on several occasions. She was realising more and more how much she’d missed the normality of life and she felt a pang of guilt over how her need for solitude must have affected Ellie. It was no wonder she’d turned to her school friends for excitement and stimulation. She certainly hadn’t received much of that from her mother.
She smiled now as Nick topped up their plates and Will carried on with his story about how Nick had abandoned him to the hands of an overzealous hairdresser one week before his first disco.
‘She shaved me almost bald,’ Will said, pulling a comical face. ‘I swear she only did it because she fancied Dad and wanted to keep him talking for as long as possible. But there was no way I was going to the disco after that.’ He gave his father a friendly punch on the arm. ‘Good thing I’m quite fond of you.’
‘I hated my dad,’ Ellie said passionately. ‘We both did, didn’t we, Mum?’
Silence greeted her words and three pairs of eyes stared at her.
‘Well it’s true, isn’t it?’ Her own eyes were unnaturally bright as they circled the group, then locked with her mother’s. ‘He wasn’t like Nick, was he? I hated him and so did you.’
Grace was so stunned by the vehemence in her voice that she didn’t know what to say, but fortunately she was saved from saying anything by Will scraping back his chair.
‘Come on, El, I’ll show you that computer game.’
‘Ellie…?’
‘It’s all right, Mum.’
Before Grace could speak, her daughter was jumping up from her chair and darting off after Will.
An awkward silence followed their departure before Nick said, his tone neutral, ‘Ellie’s feelings about Rory are very strong, aren’t they? That’s not the first time she’s slated him off like that.’
‘Yes, well so are mine,’ Grace retorted, her need to defend Ellie paramount as her eyes clashed with his.
There was compassion in his gaze as he looked at her. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘No.’ She shook her head, fighting an overwhelming urge to burst into tears. She’d never heard that particular note of anguish in Ellie’s voice before and it tore her apart, making her realise that while her daughter might appear to be adapting happily to her new life, there were still many scars from the old one that would take a long time to heal.
‘Will and I had lunch at my father’s today as you know.’ His tone was casual as he changed the subject.
‘I suppose your stepmother couldn’t wait to tell you about our meeting this morning?’
‘She was quite upset,’ Nick said. ‘Don’t you think it might have been fairer to at least hear what she had to say? She’s in a bad way, Grace – she’s not taken Rory’s death well. The only th
ing that’s keeping her going at the moment is knowing she’s got a granddaughter.’
‘And I’m supposed to feel sorry for her about that, am I?’
‘Surely even you can see it might be good for Ellie to have her grandmother in her life? It can’t be good that she has this hate in her heart.’
‘That’s rubbish. There’s no hatred in Ellie’s heart.’
‘Isn’t there? It certainly seemed that way just now when she was talking about Rory. I’m not criticising, but it seems to me that maybe she’s picked up on your antagonism towards him and–’
‘How dare you!’ She jumped up from her chair, tipping it over in her anger. ‘I haven’t poisoned Ellie’s mind against her father – he did a good enough job of that himself. You have no right to sit there in judgement on me. You know nothing of what’s gone on in our lives and if you think for one minute that I relish the fact that she harbours those sorts of feelings … that I’m not aware of how psychologically damaging it is for her–’
She broke off, knowing that if she stayed one minute longer she’d break down completely. Then turning away, she bolted – her only desire to put as much distance between them as she could.
‘Grace … wait …’
It didn’t take him long to catch her up, clasping her by the shoulder and swinging her round to face him.
‘I’m sorry – that was out of order. I shouldn’t have said it.’
‘Let go of me …’ Panic welled up as she struggled to be free of him. ‘I said let go …’
She lashed out viciously and he caught her arms mid-air.
‘Grace – calm down. There’s no need–’
But she was beyond listening as she wrenched her arms free, and it was with a sense of shock that she heard the loud resounding slap of her hand connecting with his cheek.
For a moment she stared up at him, stunned at what she’d done. But that was all she had time for before his mouth descended on hers in a raw, emotional kiss that caught her completely off guard.
There was no time to prepare herself for that kiss and though her brain was shouting at her to resist, her body seemed to have other ideas as she allowed his mouth to ravish hers, drawing a response from her despite herself. And when finally she felt the pressure from his mouth easing, his lips coming to rest on hers in a stillness that was in raging contrast to the pounding of their hearts, she found herself reluctant to draw back.
Shadow Watcher Page 13
